Gifted Tennessee transfer DeAnthony Arnett appears to be out of the doghouse and ready to get on the field for Michigan State in spring drills.Josh Slagter | MLive.com

EAST LANSING — It's safe to say Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio's calm, even-handed presence belies the competitor within that's enabled him to lead the Spartans to six consecutive bowl games for the first time in history.

That much was obvious after talking to several players following the team's fourth spring practice on Tuesday.

Here's some news and nuggets gleaned from Dantonio and his players:

LIVE ACTION HAS BEEN ELECTRIC

"They're striving to get better, and we're striving to get better, we're all brothers and we all get along, but when we get out here, and it's offense versus defense, it's like, they don't get any more yards,'' said sophomore Shilique Calhoun, who has the inside track on replacing Will Gholston at defensive end and has beefed up from 240 to 255. "(Defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi) doesn't want to give up anything longer than negative 5 yards. Narduzzi is insane. When they even gain 1 yard, it's a big deal, it's definitely a dogfight.''

LITTLE BIG MAN

5-foot-8 junior Nick Hill wore the bronze jersey in offseason drills as the hardest working tailback, and the 195-pounder shows no signs of slowing down.

Hill has the most experience of the returning tailbacks, and he believes he's bringing the most power to the table.

"I'm different, probably using power to run between the tackles, I have good hands out in space, we all three have good speed, I'd have to say I have more power, even though they are obviously both taller than me, I think I bring a little more power to the table,'' Hill said, asked to compare himself to Jeremy Langford and redshirt freshman Nick Tompkins.

Hill and Langford are getting reps with the Ones, Tompkins said he's working with the twos and the threes.

HAIL CAESAR?

Learning one position it tough enough, but it seems 6-foot-4, 212-pound sophomore Juwan Caesar is continuing to see repetitions at both receiver and tight end. Dantonio began the switch for Caesar from receiver to tight end during bowl practices.

Caesar was a consensus top 100 receiver coming out of Miami Coral Park High School two years ago.

CORNER COMPETITION

Trae Waynes and Arjen Colquhoun are seeing the work with the Ones at cornerback, with Waynes sliding over to play the boundary (short side of the field) cornerback position that will most assuredly be occupied by projected first-round draft pick Darqueze Dennard when he returns from injury after spring drills.

Waynes has beefed up to 185 pounds and is playing with a great deal of confidence after his sterling performance in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.

Colquhoun currently occupies the field corner position, but knows he'll be competing for that spot directly with Waynes soon enough

The two sometimes switch from boundary to corner, as its imperative Michigan State's corners are able to play both. The majority of the corner blitzes have traditionally come from the boundary side, but also, the field corner is generally more likely to get safety help over the top.

DEFENSE DOMINATES?

The defensive players claim the offense hasn't been able to do much against them in the limited scrimmage action that takes place, but Hill let slip that a running back might have broken through for a noteworthy gain on at least one play.

"Early on in spring, normally defense has it better than offense,'' Hill said. "Offense is all about rhythm, repetition and flow. As the spring goes on, offense gets better.

"The more reps you get, and the offensive line gets more reps, you break down the defense and you hit a big one, as we did later on in the (Tuesday) practice.''

ARNETT IN THE MIX

It was a disappointing 2012 for Tennessee transfer DeAnthony Arnett, playing in just seven games and making three catches for 69 yards, but it seems the Saginaw product is turning it around.

According to one player: "DeAnthony is a great payer, he's fast, he's quick, he knows what to do, he has good change of speed, and I feel he'll make a lot of plays this year.''

QUARTERBACK REPORT

The information has been scarce, likely by design as Dantonio wants to ensure each of the three returners competing get equal opportunities and a fair chance to learn the new wrinkles in the offense and make plays.

"You see Tyler O'Connor stepping up, I think he made some plays this past week,'' Dantonio said. "He's a young player. Also, I thought Connor Cook and (Andrew) Maxwell, they did good things. They did some other things that need to be better as well. I think that's the nature of it.''

SAME BASE OFFENSE

That should not be a discouraging note, lest anyone forget Dantonio put together the first back-to-back 11-win seasons in school history and had five losses by a combined 13 points last season.

Michigan State figures to be the same Pro Offense, with a power run game and an offense focused more on efficiency and proficiency than high-risk plays.

The Spartans have added some new plays with the change in offensive coordinators, and there will be some wrinkles to the sets and motions, but Dantonio will stick with what's enabled him to lead Michigan State to more Big Ten wins over the past five seasons than any other program.

That said, it's most often a pyramid approach, and with only four practices behind them, it's a safe bet the coaches plan to add more once the foundation has been set with timing and execution in the base plays.